Leadville Recap and Cornering Clinic with Lee McCormack – Ask a Cycling Coach 216

Coach Jonathan’s Leadville 100 analysis and a deep dive into cornering with MTB Skills Coach Lee McCormack of Lee Likes Bikes, all covered in Episode 216 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast! Join us live on YouTube this Wednesday, August 14 at 8:00am Pacific.


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Episode Notes:

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  • Coach Jonathan’s skills at Northstar:

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Find more from Lee McCormack:

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Jeez :sleeping::sleeping::sleeping:, nah only kidding, I’m sure someone’s enjoying it :joy::joy:

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Are there any videos demonstrating the “scalloping” corning Lee was discussing? I am having a hard time visualizing this.

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I was also having a hard time getting it. I dug around on his YouTube channel and found that video from a few years ago. I think that might be what they are talking about. Maybe.

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that looks like it, good find!

Please, please do the CX edition with Lee. :hugs:

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I am curious to see the Jonathan videos of his jumps… This was an awesome podcast. I wish Lee came to the midwest. Now have to wait for next year to book some time with him and my family

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Yes, yes, yes please.

This actually has me thinking that this might be a great way to get through the switch back series sections…hard, 180 turns in quick succession, usually 3 or 4 set up as a block.

I’m having a hard time understanding whether this would be applicable to general cross cornering though. MTB stuff is so foreign to me…

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Jonathan asked about pressure vs. temperature for tires. This matters a lot for fat biking as there’s a big difference between 5 psi in a 70F garage vs 2.5 psi at 0F.

The same thing happens with MTB tires, but the effect isn’t as much of an issue - but it’s present nonetheless.

The table below shows the impact of temperature on pressure for 2-35 psi over a temperature range of -20 to 90F.

I’ve also got a sheet that calculates the impact of altitude, but that’s an easier one, and a table isn’t really needed. It’s about 0.5 psi increase for every 1000 ft ascent. The tricker part is that temperature usually drops as you ascend, and that offsets the impact of higher altitude. So generally I ignore altitude, and just pay attention to temperature.

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@Nate_Pearson, @Jonathan I need to see a picture of what @Pete was talking about with his knees (being parallel or something different) and position. I think you guys were discussing the “Triangle of Awesomeness”. I get on leg and pedal is back while the other leg and pedal are forward, so that makes one knee in front of the other unless you bend your back knee to push it up where it is parallel with the other?

Yes, I think that is exactly what theyre saying. Body totally symetrical from head down to knees. Only difference is knee angle. For whatever reason that I dont quite grasp, I think theyre saying this is more stable than having the legs differ at the hip angle.

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I bought a RipRow and paid extra to get it shipped to the UK.
I was motivated to do so after surviving 4 days of Single Track 6 and basically becoming phobic about a trail suddenly turning into a cliff edge :joy::sweat_smile::rofl: (I’m sure Nate can relate as he was there that year)
The RipRow is Awesome. It basically saved my MTB mojo.
Just getting my weight in the right place opened up so many more possibilities for me.
The shred lift (even over smallish stuff) feels super cool.
Thanks Lee :heart:

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Tell you what - the other day, the guys responded to certain listener complaints about the fact that triathlon had been discussed on the show. The hosts said that the podcast had a variety of listeners and topics and that triathletes, too, must’ve had a hard time listening to all the mountain biking stuff.

This one was indeed difficult to go through for a triathlete - not the Leadville part, which I found interesting, but the technical intricacies of taking turns and going up and down on a mountain bike, just too much :wink:

Glad that it helped mountain bikers though!

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Think of it as if you’re looking at a profile of a rider from the drive side. The knees would be even (as if you could drive a pole horizontally through both from the side) and represent the top point of the triangle. Then the lower legs represent two of the lines to each foot. Finally the line drawn from foot to foot makes the bottom of this triangle.

Holding this position reinforces a stable and balanced hinge at the hips and really engages the core as your foundation is rock solid and strong.

Even as a MTBer, it required concentration to visualize everything that was being discussed. I was able to follow along, but only because I can readily relate to the context. The insights are really interesting by the way.

For a non-MTBer, it for sure would have been hard to follow. For a non MTBer, I also don’t know how relevant the concepts are. Riding MTB has certainly helped me on the road and gravel as it gives me a lot more confidence, but concepts like row/anti-row seems to have limited applicability (one exception maybe is rough gravel).

Here’s a video from Lee demonstrating some of the hinge stuff they were talking about using his “rip row” machine.

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I was a mountain biker before moving to road and I’m slowly moving back. I’d love to hear more mob topics discussed but I found this episode a really difficult listen as I just couldn’t picture what was being discussed. Maybe it was better watched on YouTube, I might give it another go to see if a second listen helps - what it has done is peak my interest in getting taught properly. Having just returned from a few days in the alps I could definitely resonate with burning quads discussion and that alone has made me think there are some BIG improvements I could make in technique.

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The video they did with Lee the last time also talks about the triangle of awesomess. I’m having trouble linking it through my phone at the moment.

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